Oral History

Part One
I have learned a lot of new information from reading all of these interviews. First and one of the most important things I learned was that Negros were not able to get the same jobs as white people were aloud to have. This was unfair to just about all black people. Many black people saw themselves equal to whites and they believed that G-d created everyone equally. For example, Man at Colonial Park stated “God made all this, and he made it for everybody. And he made it equal.” In this man’s interview he says that everyone shares the same air and son but the white people have more money and are treated more superior than black people are treated. Next, many house wives’s white or black had important jobs. They must take care of the whole family especially the elders and young. Sometimes the wives even did some of the husband’s jobs. Mrs. Elizabeth E. Miller, a house wife took care of her children and needed to do her husbands job when he was out late taking care of some other hogs. She went out at night cut up the hog and brought it inside before her band got home. “My husband didn't come and so I took a lantern and a saw and a knife and went out to fetch in that hog...I cut up that hog and loaded it piecemeal onto the sled.”
Next, I also learned that people went through many difficult times and hard work. Chris Thorsten a 51 year old man believed that “You ain't an Iron worker unless you get killed”. He was an Iron Worker because he got squeezed between a crane and broke his collar bone, all the bones in his body and tree vertebrae. Mr. Garavelli a stonecutter believed it was a tough job because many people died from the silica from the dust of the granite. Mr. Garavelli was one of the lucky ones who were on the side of the shed with a lot less dust which means less chance of getting silica. “It's like a knife, you know, that silica. Like a knife in your chest.” For the most part all people had a very tough time in the depression.
By Joshua Bartosiewicz

Part Two
1.) Who is being interviewed? Jesse Owens
2.) What is his/her title or position? Olympic Runner, Student at the University of Ohio
3.) What is his/her race? Gender? Age? Born in Florence, Alabama, African-American, Male
4.) Where is the interview taking place? Macon County
5.) What is the date of the interview? April 22, 1939
6.) Who is the interviewer? Rhussus L. Parry
Jesse Owens was born in Florence, Alabama he was one of siblings. He was born on a farm and his family migrated to Cleveland. He went to Fairmount Junior High. Jesse joined the boys running team. Riley (the boys running coach) was surprised when he met Jesse, they took a lot of walks together to parks to talk about the running team and what terms Jesse will need to agree to and follow. They also talked about life in general. He went to Berlin, Germany for races and he broke the world’s record, he received the officially, the Nazi Swastika from Reichfuekrer Adolf Hitler. Then we went to the Olympics and he won the 200-meter dash and became the fourth American to get three or more championships in one Olympic-meet. In May 28, 1932, competing in his second state at Columbus he ran 100-yards in 9.9 seconds to tie George Simpson’s state record. Jesse runs because it is fun and he is supported by his team and coach. “Believe me ladies and gentlemen, when I run in college it will be for you. Because you have made me want to run.”
[Jesse Owens]

1. Who is being interviewed? Jim Davis
2. What is his/her title or position? He works on one of Taylor Lowensteins trucks
3. What is his/her race? Gender? Age? He was born in the Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies, male, 60
4. Where is the interview taking place? This interview takes place at 536 Cedar St.,
   Mobile, Ala.
5. What is the date of the interview? October 18, 1938
6. Who is the interviewer? Helen S. Hartley

Jim Davis was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies. He had a happy child hood with his family. When he was 11 years old he was asked to be the cabin buy on the “Red Jacket”. When the “Red Jacket” arrived in Mobile Jim and other crew members jumped the ship. Then he got arrested for “loafing” around by Sheriff Brown. Then he was taken in by a African-American named John McMillan. Then, he went to go work on one of the Taylor Lowensteins trucks. He married Lizzie, a native of Mobile and had been married since 1914.
[The Life of Jim Davis]
By Joshua Bartosiewicz

Part One:
he person being interviewed is Mr. Garavelli he is in his fifties and he is a stonecutter in Vermont he immigrated from Italy and he is very knowledgeable of his work. He know his work is dangerous because of the machines and the dust. He wouldn't even let his kids work there because of how dangerous he feels the dust is to you lungs. He didn't have any money but he still had his health. Mrs. Marie Haggerty was a housewife in Massachusetts. She was not only a housewife but a nurse also. She said she was hired because of she looked honest, but the people she worked for still didn't trust her. One time they tested her by leaving a five dollar bill beside the bed she was making and she wasn't sure if she should bring it to the owner or leave it there, but she knew it was a test of her honesty. Alice Caudle was a mill worker in Concord, North Carolina. It was what she was born and raised to do, she started to work at the mill when she was ten and she didn't stop till she died. She was so little she had to stand on a box to reach the machines. She was disappointed that she wasn't a boy because then she could have reached greater goals working in the mill. She proffered it over housework and wouldn't want to do anything else.


Part two
Johnnie Gates was a truck miner that was just trying to get by. He lived in Helena, Alabama. He was trying to build Helena back up what it use to be. He use to trade his paycheck for snuff and then his snuff for groceries. He was a business man indeed. There town use to be crowded with houses until a tornado knocked it down right in the middle of the depression. Johnie was a republican and he wanted to see Rosevelt back in office because he supported them when there town was down, "I vote straight Republican." The thing that surprised me most about this article was how small the town is compared to now a days, they all needed business to keep themselves a live but the town needed business to support the town also.

Jesse Owens was a teenage boy during the depression he was born in Alabama. During the depression his family migrated to Chicago. He went to Fairmont Junior High, there he joined the track team.His coach riley was surpised at his skill level at such a young age. Later in life he became and Olympic medalist. But his first experience in track came in Chicago. He was nicknamed the Fattest Runner in the world. Although he wasn't making money during the depression he was getting an education and learning to run. He was setting himself up for the rest of he life. After high school he attended Ohio State University. He steadily climbed the ladder of fame until breaking the world record in Berlin, Germany. After that he won event after event making a name for himself. "My boy is a fine respectful boy, the kind that the white folks down Alabama way really love." This is what Jesse's dad thought of his fine son. Jesse Owens is still recognized as won of the fastest runners ever.
By: Craig S.

Part one:
I have learned a lot of information while reading these interviews. First and foremost, I learned more about how the women were treated during this time. They were treated with no respect from the men whatsoever. For example, in this interview, the woman in it said, “You could get along swell if you let the boss slap you on the behind.” This is a perfect example of how a man would treat a woman in those days. Also, I learned about the kinds of jobs the women could have, which were mostly housekeeping and things like that. In this interview, the woman is talking about how she was housekeeping, and the house owners left a five-dollar bill on the ground as a test. They wanted to see if she would steal it, or pick it up and tell them what she had found. She didn’t know what to do, because she wanted the money, but she also wanted to keep her job.
By: Kaitlyn Palmer

Part Two:
Woodrow Hand in Helena, Alabama, is interviewing John M. Gates. He is a white male truck miner. He has a wife named Hattie, who is forty years old, but still looks very young. He has a four-year-old daughter and a twenty-year-old son. He wants to send his son to Howard College, but he doesn’t have enough money because his job (truck mining) doesn’t make enough to put food on the table, fix up the house, and pay for the tuition for the school. He could have a had another job but, as Johnnie explained it: “I had to go to Birmingham to stand examination and I couldn't answer a dang question that was on the paper. Another fellow took the test; said he was sure glad he knew triggermomity. What is triggermomity anyhow? Anyway, that dude got the job. And I know as much about gas as anybody. So I still work by the day at Paramount, and ain't many days that Paramount works. That's why my two kids need education.”

Rev. Lorenzo Dow was a white preacher, and the first Protisatant preacher to preach in Alabama. He was 59 and made huge accomplishments. This interview is taking place at his home on February 20, 1939 by Marie Reese. "Rev. Lorenzo Dow was the first Protestant preacher to preach in any part of the territory that is now Alabama. He claimed to be a Methodist and affiliated with that denomination, but they would not be responsible for him in anything he did. In May, 1803, Rev. Mr. Dow preached to the settlers in the Tombigbee and Tensaw settlements."
By: Kaitlyn Palmer